Month: November 2018
So, about those Zergs…
This and similar questions crop up once or twice per year. They deserve an answer, and this was covered in part in an earlier post. In short, we do already have rules in place regarding zergs and zerging; it’s covered under our “Don’t Be a Dick” rule:
A large group of people showing up and working together isn’t not newbie friendly. Moreover, the newbie friendly element of this server isn’t on restricting people from playing the game, but giving people the chance to play the game in all sorts of different ways, so they can learn what parts of Rust work well for them. Some people want to be a part of a group. Some people want to solo. Some people just want to farm and build, and others just want PVP. All of those are completely valid, and all get equal representation and protection.
Being a newbie friendly server is about giving people the opportunity to learn the game without having a 10-year old screeching in their mic calling you a retard faggotjew while farming you for kills on the beach and talking about how recently he fucked your mother. Being a newbie friendly server is about giving people a positive, supportive environment in which to learn the game, it’s mechanics, and nuances. It’s not about protecting people from the consequences of their actions. People, generally speaking, hate injustice, and when a big group shows up and starts throwing their weight around, a bigger group forms and pushes their shit in. This is the constant swing of the pendulum, and is a part of a natural kind of oscillation of violence in Rust. Further, because players are paid in rad pills to play the game, and because items are available in the shop every wipe to help them either skip the grinding of scrap and air drops and monuments, recovering from a bad hit is never that difficult, and if someone joins the game just before a BP wipe, they still have access to resources in order to swiftly put them at parity with other players who’ve been playing through the whole BP cycle.
If what you’re looking for is a PVE server, that’s the keyword you need to be searching for. If what you’re looking for is a roleplay server, that or RP are the keywords that you need to be looking for. This is a newbie-friendly server, where people can come and learn the game in a non-toxic environment, and where rules and systems are put in place to help people to advance and recover more quickly while they learn their favorite parts of Rust. If you’re playing on our Main server and a big group is menacing you constantly, report them. If you’re playing on our Main server and you feel threatened or have been raided by a big group, use your voice. Seriously, this isn’t just a first-person shooter. The thing that distinguishes Rust from so many other games is the social aspect, the fact that you’re dealing with real people, real situations, and things like diplomacy, deception, and clever dealing with people can do more damage than bullets, blades, and bombs.
Halloween Winners!
Players have had two spooky weeks to build their perfect spooky haunted houses in a special contest area in the desert on the east side of the island. Between the wonderful new items added by Facepunch and the terrifying new NPC’s roaming, it’s been an incredibly exciting wipe! Yesterday, a couple of admins and myself had an opportunity to tour the contest area and check out everyone’s hard work. As with all of our housing contests, each location is rated on a scale of 1 to 10, in 5 different categories, from how well it conveyed its theme, to how well it’s decorated, and then those points are tallied and averaged for a final score.
Our Grand Prize winner was Jake, with his incredible “Maze Macabre!” Jake managed not only to create a compelling and interesting haunted house, but he built a whole experience around it, very successfully emulating the feeling, experience, and enjoyment of a real-life corn maze, and he even tried to be present for each person who reached the end of the maze to help them celebrate, to give them goodies, and an impromptu fireworks display for their efforts. In 
included a genuinely challenging maze, riddles, challenges, and a fun haunted house in the center. Great work, and a huge congratulations on your prizes for next wipe! We’re looking forward to seeing what you do through 
November!
We had a two-way tie for our first runner-up was Jakolantern, with The Pumpkin Corporation’s genetic research lab. Throughout the facility, and as you wandered deeper and deeper into the bowels of this site, more and more
layers of secrets began to be peeled back, revealing that the doctors working to cure people of their ailments were actually creating deranged pumpkin/scarecrow/human hybrids, and running extensive, murderous experiments on them. The overall theme was unique and moving, and a unique take on the horror genre, that even managed to illicit not one, but two jump-scares with well-placed lights and turrets.
Our second-first runner-up was Dasbronco, creating an old rural church-
turned-funeral home. While the theme was a little bit of a trope, the execution on that theme was absolutely top notch. Where the other winners showed an interesting and creative step outside the box, this one took what was in the box, and polished it to a lustrous shine.
Our second runner up was Killer Jermz with what appeared at first to be a 
simple, straightforward mansion, but one that held a secret. As you explored the themed, dark, and oppressive rooms, it became more and more clear that the owners of this home had dark appetites that demanded satisfaction, and upon delving into the cellar, you find that it’s no cellar at all, but a torturous dungeon, complete with a supply of captured island survivors, including our long-lost Mrs. Muerte. 
Also within the dank dungeon were a number of ritual pieces and coffins for collecting those who didn’t survive the dungeon–which makes us beg the question, “Who was on display in the funeral chapel out back, and who fills all of those graves in the ‘family’ cemetery plot?”
A huge shout out for all of our winners, and congratulations! Thank you all for your hard work, your dedication, and your creativity! We can’t wait to see what you come up with next, as we celebrate Valentine’s Day in February by ripping out hearts and eating them, with the spoopy return of our late winter Halloween redux!